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How to write a developer resume that will get you hired

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Re: How to write a developer resume that will get you hired

#31

Post by bshimmin »

ryaniscool wrote: post #26
izolate wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why are you perpetuating the myth that frequent switching of jobs is somehow detrimental to your career? Maybe that's true for corporate megacorp, but in the startup world I feel it's par for the course. At least all the best engineers I've worked with never stuck around long.

As someone who has done a lot of interviewing and hiring, I can say that frequent switching of jobs is a negative and a red flag in general. If you had a business, would you want to hire someone who is probably going to jump to another job in a few months?

For permanent employees, I would definitely agree - anyone who is unable or unwilling to stay in a permanent position for more than a year, say, probably isn't going to be a good bet in the long-run.

For contractors, it's obviously somewhat different - but speaking from experience, many short contracts tend to get extended, so someone who has a raft of 1-2 month contracts and very few longer ones might be a bit of a risk. (Obviously some contracts are intentionally short - but I would definitely describe a very short contract on my CV as being more of a "project" than an actual contract.)

Re: How to write a developer resume that will get you hired

#32

Post by nrzuk »

MrScruff wrote: post #15
magoon wrote: post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It may seem like you were dressed OK, but do you really know? Does anybody ever say "we can't hire that guy, he dressed up?"

They wouldn't say that, they'd say 'I'm not sure if this person is a good cultural fit for our company'.

I always wear shirt and tie to the interview then ask about dress code as if they expect me to sit there developing suited and booted I'm not the guy for the job!

Re: How to write a developer resume that will get you hired

#33

Post by bshimmin »

outworlder wrote: post #30
bshimmin wrote: post #28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I really don't think so. If you went to a first interview in a suit and everyone were dressed extremely casually (flip-flop casually) and then you dressed the same for a second interview, definitely questions might be asked. But on the whole in the UK I would say it's pretty common to dress smartly for a first interview unless you have specific information (eg. from a recruiter or hiring manager) that you should not…

Doesn't hurt to just ask, to whoever your contact is, "hey, is there a dress code?"

Absolutely right. If I turned up to a job interview in a suit and everyone else was in beach attire, I'd absolutely ask about the dress code and make a joke about my own attire.

Re: How to write a developer resume that will get you hired

#34

Post by lostcolony »

Bahamut wrote: post #5

"...did you wear a suit" I guess it might depend on the industry, but at most interviews I have done, the expectation has been to just wear jeans and whatever. I usually go with jeans and a polo shirt for safety.

'Or at least business casual'

It really depends on the place. If there's a recruiter involved, ask them. Otherwise, (the following is based on my experience in the US, YMMV, etc), if they're not a software company, or are a defense contractor or similar, probably safest to go with a suit. If they are a software company, business casual is probably fine. If they're a startup, jeans and a t-shirt is probably fine. If you're uncertain, consider dressing up slightly; i.e., you think jeans and a t-shirt is fine but aren't sure; go with khakis and a polo. You think business casual is okay but aren't sure, go with a dress shirt and slacks.

In general the commentary along the lines of "would you want to work there if they judged you on your clothes?" is probably true, however it misses a major point. In many roles, roles you may even enjoy, you will interact with executives or with customers, at some level. Even if that doesn't entail dressing up (and oftentimes it won't), being able to show that you can exude professionalism during the interview shows that you can do it in such a situation, and it's generally easier to do that when dressed nicely (though balance it against the discomfort of wearing something you're unaccustomed to).

Re: How to write a developer resume that will get you hired

#35

Post by acheron »

spindritf wrote: post #16
alistairjcbrown wrote: post #14

"Your CV should be about three pages" - I had always been told, keep your CV to two pages, so you can print it on one sheet of paper (both sides). I like it as it ties back into the main message of these slides: "reading CVs is a chore" so keeping it condensed helps me to focus with showing only the most valuable information.

I have been told that it should be one page unless you have had a really long career. Was this bad/outdated advice?

I've always tried to keep mine to one page. But I've been doing some interviewing at my current company recently and all the ones I see are 2-4 pages, so maybe I'm the only one doing that.

Re: How to write a developer resume that will get you hired

#36

Post by peteretep »

pjmlp wrote: post #27

Behind a corporate firewall, so I cannot read it. One thing I have been noticing lately with HR drones, is that unless you have stated specifically that you worked in technology X on a project at work, it doesn't matter how many off work projects you might have done in the said technology. Even if there are other people using the said projects. They just go top to bottom looking for keywords.

You're right, and there's a strategy for addressing that (and a description of the problem) in the slide set

Re: How to write a developer resume that will get you hired

#38

Post by FLUX-YOU »

magoon wrote: post #13
Bahamut wrote: post #5

"...did you wear a suit" I guess it might depend on the industry, but at most interviews I have done, the expectation has been to just wear jeans and whatever. I usually go with jeans and a polo shirt for safety.

It may seem like you were dressed OK, but do you really know? Does anybody ever say "we can't hire that guy, he dressed up?"

Yes, they do, and I've seen it once or twice on here from blog posts from company leads/founders talking about their applicants. I don't have it handy, because I don't bookmark that sort of thing, but they believed that you could overdress.

They're simply looking for someone who doesn't dress up because they believe that will indicate someone that they'd want to hire. You, as the applicant, may not be aware of this because there's often incomplete information on both sides of the table (that's what the interview is for). You can always ask indirectly, stop by their place and peek through the windows, or research this information yourself, like looking at company photos. Or you can just do what I do and dress up anyway because someone who believes that dressing up is a negative mark is probably not compatible with me.

Re: How to write a developer resume that will get you hired

#39

Post by nraynaud »

peteretep wrote: post #36
pjmlp wrote: post #27

Behind a corporate firewall, so I cannot read it. One thing I have been noticing lately with HR drones, is that unless you have stated specifically that you worked in technology X on a project at work, it doesn't matter how many off work projects you might have done in the said technology. Even if there are other people using the said projects. They just go top to bottom looking for keywords.

You're right, and there's a strategy for addressing that (and a description of the problem) in the slide set

spoiler: he advises to just put the keywords, to please every layer in the hiring process.

This is a quite conservative document: your CV is a little piece of shit in the stack, people have better stuff to do than read your freaking CV, you stupid millennial, they hate recruiting and they are absolutely not willing to spend any time on it, and there are millions other people waiting for your job, so you'd better get in the freaking line before they retract the privilege they gave you by accepting your CV in their stack. And the lowest salary in the team does the actual interviews, because I told you I have better things to do.

Re: How to write a developer resume that will get you hired

#40

Post by Kiro »

magoon wrote: post #13
Bahamut wrote: post #5

"...did you wear a suit" I guess it might depend on the industry, but at most interviews I have done, the expectation has been to just wear jeans and whatever. I usually go with jeans and a polo shirt for safety.

It may seem like you were dressed OK, but do you really know? Does anybody ever say "we can't hire that guy, he dressed up?"

An applicant came to our job dressed in a suit and it looked really strange and made us question his judgement and experience.
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